Gil could have sworn that he had never waited so long for someone to open a door in his life. His mind was telling him that Diana could have been exaggerating and Anne would open the door in perfect health, but his heart was telling him that she was right. Gilbert swore to himself right then and there on Marilla Cuthbert's doorstep to everything that he could to get Anne back into perfect health and prayed that God would help him.

What felt like ages later, a tired and haggard looking Marilla opened the door. Gilbert looked at her with a hopeful face, but she just shook her head and motioned him inside. "I don't know what it is, the doctor is out of town and will be for a while yet, I think it's typhoid," she said- her head hung low, barely whispering. "Is there anything you can do for my baby girl?" Her red-rimmed eyes met his; Gilbert could tell that he was her last hope. Remembering his promise that he made, a little bit of courage came to him as he promised he would try.

Gilbert silently followed Marilla up the staircase, his mind going a thousand miles an hour with thoughts of Anne's condition. How bad was it? How long had she had it? How was she holding up? Is she staying strong or laying on her deathbed? He shuddered at that last though and shook himself out of it. His Anne was stronger than that; she wasn't going to succumb to that.

Those thoughts were pushed to the side as he entered her room behind Marilla. She was pale, a lot more so than usual. She was shaking and sweating. She was weak, very weak. This was worse than he was expecting.

As soon as he snapped out of the shock of seeing his beloved in such a condition, his medical training kicked in. "Marilla can a I get a fresh bowl of water and a cloth. If you could make some broth, we need to get some nutrients in her- she it to weak to fight right now."

As soon as Marilla arrived with the water and cloth he began to bath her in attempt to cool her off. Washing over her face, Gilberts mind wandered. How wonderful would this be if it were under different circumstances, finally getting to hold her, to caress her face? It would be a dream come true. These thoughts quickly ending when Anne began to violently shake from shivering. He felt her forehead- still burning with fever. After calling Marilla in and asking her to continue, he ran home to get the few medical supplies that he had.

Gilbert arrived at his house gasping for breath, he didn't remember running that hard even as a schoolboy, but that didn't matter and he would do it again in a heartbeat if that meant Anne would get better. Thankfully he did have a few minutes to catch his breath as he dug around his trunk for his medical bag before flying back up the lane to Green Gables.

As he ran, he did have some time to think. He didn't remember seeing a ring on Anne's finger when he was in her room. Maybe he had missed it or she had taken it off when she had fallen ill. Or what if Gardiner didn't actually propose? What if she had rejected him? Before Gilbert let his spirits get up her resolved to look at little closer at her hand, particularly the ring finger on the left hand, before rejoicing. It would also be a good idea to ask Marilla what she knows on the subject, considering there could be a little bit more to the story.

Gil wasn't worried about what Marilla would think of him for asking. He was pretty sure that the entire town knew that he was head over heels for Anne anyways and Marilla had never discouraged him, she just asked him to nurse Anne back to health when he wasn't even a doctor yet. Now there are other reasons that she could have asked, but Gilbert immediately pushed that thought out of his head as soon as it entered.

He didn't even knock upon arriving at Green Gables, instead he just ran straight up the stairs and into Anne's room. To his relief the shivering seemed to of subsided, but she was still a very long way from recovery. Immediately getting to business, Gilbert told Marilla of his plan. He was going to wake Anne up to check her heartbeat and try to get her to drink some broth. Marilla immediately departed for the kitchen to fetch the broth from the stove.

After shaking her shoulder gently, Gilbert saw Anne begin to stir. At the same time he heard voices downstairs, to him, it sounded like Diana and her mother. Gilbert smiled to himself as he though of Anne and Diana's devotion to one another. It was just one of the millions of reasons that Gil found Anne enchanting, but that didn't matter right now. As of right now, Anne was sick and needed his help, not his romantic daydreams about her, they could wait.

Just as Anne was coming into consciousness, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs and Diana stepped quietly into the room. "Diana, could I get a hand here?" Gilbert asked his former classmate.

"Oh, Gil! I'm so glad you came! We were so worried because there was nobody in town with the slightest idea what to do with a case of typhoid. What can I do?"

"Help me sit her up. She is too weak to do it on her own and I've got to check her heartbeat." Together they got Anne into a sitting position, fully supported by Diana as Gil dug his stethoscope out of his bag. Gilbert made to unbutton the buttons on Anne's nightgown seeing as Diana's were otherwise occupies and Anne was to weak to even attempt to try.

Having Diana in the room definitely helped keep is mind on task, but even with her presence it was still hard. Under any other circumstance, this would have been the moment he had been dreaming about for years. Gilbert put the stethoscope into his ears and pressed the other end to Anne's chest, "Deep breaths for me Anne," he said. She nodded ever so slightly and began taking slightly deeper breaths, as that was all that she could manage.

The weak heartbeat that was playing in Gilbert's ears was like seeing his worst nightmare come true. She was weak in every possible way and the fever was slowly swallowing her. "Diana," he said with more urgency than before, "I need to check it from her back as well. Just lean her onto me." With that, Anne's face was soon buried in Gilbert's chest. Her heartbeat sounded just as weak from this side.

The next step they could take would be to try to get some broth into her. Gilbert looked to Diana and shook is head sorrowfully. "She is strong, but if heartbeat gets any weaker she won't have one. We need to get some nutrients in her so she has some energy to fight the fever with. Could you go and get some broth from Marilla and bring it up here. I'm going to try to keep her awake." Diana nodded and ran out of the room and down the stairs faster than she had in years.

As soon as Diana was back up with the broth, the two of them maneuvered Anne to a sitting position supported by the headboard of her bed. "Anne," Gil said gently, "we need to get some food into you, you need some energy."

He got a moan in response.

To Anne, Gil might of well of been asking her to run around the entire island. Eating sounded like too much work. She just wanted to go back to sleep, but this was Gilbert Blythe and he was persistent. Anne gave up and submitted as he spoon-fed her some of Marilla's broth.

As soon as she had taken her first bite, she was glad she did. It was almost as though she had forgotten what eating felt like, or how good it was to have food in her stomach. She hungrily swallowed every ounce that was given to her, as though she could already feel the energy flowing back into her.

When Gil stopped and she asked for more, he refused, claiming that she could only handle so much at once. She wanted to argue, but didn't have the energy. As soon as Gilbert helped her lie down, she was fast asleep, leaving him and Diana to tip toe back down stairs.

Ok, before I get any comments saying that somebody has already done something like this, I know. This story is different. Diana is already part of the plot and it has slightly different timing. Put this story where you want as it is kind of off of Montgomery's timeline. Gil has been at med school for a while but never reconciled with Anne, who has rejected Roy's proposal. Don't worry, Anne will live and on her road to recovery realize her feelings for Gilbert. I want to put Davy and Dora in later so we can just pretend that they were staying with a friend through all of this even though they don't really do that in this time period. I will answer any questions that you all have about how this fits in, but chances are I will just tell you all to use your imagination because truthfully I am not sure at all. Gil does not end up with the fever so we have passed that point in the story already and this is sort of its substitute I guess. Review plz! Tell me what you think!

XOXO Darcy T.